Rome Rescue Mission Cooking

The chicken was marinating all day. We arrived at the church and put 5 pots of water on the stove to boil. The potatoes were scrubbed and cut into slices. The chicken was put into pans and placed in the ovens. The workers got busy cutting tomatoes, peppers, celery and cucumbers for the potato and lettuce salads. A pleasant hour passed with Arlene Markin cutting vegetables with my granddaughter, Aggie and me; Ed tending the chicken and the potatoes and Clay Mowry making Jell-O for dessert.

The next night we went to Rome Rescue Mission and served our feast. It was a hot night - cold chicken and potato salad was perfect. The diners raved about the food, and Aggie loved wearing a hairnet & gloves and handing out cookies. It was a night that she, and we, will remember for a long time.

The Rome Rescue Mission Cooking Mission takes place twice a month, when we prepare food for the evening meal on the last two Wednesdays of the month. Usually cooking takes place on the previous Tuesday at 7PM, but the schedule is flexible and some do it at 10AM Wednesday.

We have five captains who rotate responsibilities; Liz Clough, Candy Warner, Carol Kunkel, Mary Lou Talley and Randa Ratazzi. The captains plan the meal, see that the ingredients are ready for the cookoff and supervise the cooking.

We also have many cooks who come to help with the preparation. They do many different jobs; chopping, slicing, mixing, baking, etc.. Also any article about RRM cooking would be incomplete without mentioning Clay Mowry, who has been cooking with us for many years. Clay can usually be found making Jello or washing pans. He also picks up the pans at Rome Rescue Mission and brings them back to the church for the next cookoff.

If you would like to participate in this ministry, sign up on the sheet in the Parlor or talk to Randa Ratazzi (rr@twcny.rr.com).